


And Now I See Daylight

by Etoile_Filante



Category: RWBY
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Chapter 11&12 didn't happen, Fairgame rights, Fairgame's typical amount of flirting, Fluff, Guilt, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, M/M, Qrow and Taiyang have a talk, post chapter 10
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-25
Updated: 2020-01-25
Packaged: 2021-02-27 14:34:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,305
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22408780
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Etoile_Filante/pseuds/Etoile_Filante
Summary: The battle for protecting Mantle was a success and therefore, a celebration is in order. Still adjusting to his new relationship with Clover, Qrow can't help but thinking about all the people he's let down before. Especially Taiyang Xiao Long. With Clover's support, it's time for Qrow to call his old teammate and finally have a talk.
Relationships: Blake Belladonna/Yang Xiao Long (mentioned), Qrow Branwen/Clover Ebi
Comments: 17
Kudos: 129





	And Now I See Daylight

**Author's Note:**

> I started writing that a couple of weeks ago so the last 2 episodes don't exist. ESPECIALLY that last one.  
> The title and a sentence from this fic are a reference to a beautiful song from my favourite singer, maybe one of you will catch it! It screams Fairgame to me.  
> Please keep in mind that English is not my mother-tongue. I hope you enjoy!

It had been the kids’ idea. Or more accurately, Nora and Ruby’s idea. The mission in Mantle had been a success and everyone who ended up wounded was now well enough to attend. Where Ironwood saw an opportunity for a grand party, the kids had requested a smaller celebration in the form of a simple dinner. Well, as simple as a dinner could be with a Military General, 6 Special Operatives, an Android and newly sober Huntsman and his 8 children. Ironwood didn’t even try to defend his original idea as he was all too familiar with Nora’s enthusiasm about food and Ruby’s enthusiasm about… pretty much everything, to dare stand in the way of their “super-cool-awesome-wekickedsomebutts partyyyyy!!” (their words, not his.)

As Qrow entered the huge dining room, he felt strangely at ease. Was it knowing the fight was over? The certainty that there would be no alcohol to tempt him? Seeing the kids so happy? Or maybe it was just the feeling of Clover’s hand in his. He had been…hesitant, about starting a relationship with the other man. They wouldn’t stay in Atlas forever and he was recovering from an alcohol addiction, he didn’t want to drag Clover into this mess. But as it turned out, Clover saw the mess and jumped headfirst. In the back of his mind, Qrow could hear the distant voice of worry telling him it was bound to go wrong, that he should do what he does best and run away. But Clover’s hand was warm in his and his smile was blinding and Qrow could still feel his lips on his own from their earlier make-out session. So yeah, he had a boyfriend. 

Referring to Clover as “his boyfriend” and to their time together as “make-out sessions” made Qrow feel like a teenager but he tried to ignore that. He was doing better than he ever was and he was slowly learning to give himself a break. He would not let himself ruin the best thing that happened to him so far, right behind his nieces’ births.  
Speaking of said nieces, they were sitting at the table, laughing with their friends. Upon seeing their uncle enter the room, they both jumped on their seats and waved at him. He saw Yang glancing down at his hand intertwined with Clover’s and watched in horror as she elbowed her younger sister so she would look as well. He saw Ruby’s eyes widened and, to his surprise, she just raised a big thumb-up in his direction with her usual big smile while Yang winked at him, repositioning herself with her head on Blake’s shoulders. Qrow felt his face soften at the sight of his two nieces, they were really something else.

“They really are good kids.” said Clover, interrupting his thoughts with a soft smile on his face. “And I’m glad they follow orders, even during such an unconventional event.”

“Orders? What orders?” asked Qrow, following Clover’s lead to the other end of the table where no one was seated yet. “What did Ironwood tell them?”

“Not him. Me. I knew that this,” he explained while tightening his grip on the shapeshifter’s hand “would get quite a lot of attention from the people in this room and I knew you’d be uncomfortable with that. I told everyone to tone it down this evening and to come see you personally for any feelings they might want to share. I didn’t really order Yang, Ruby and everyone else to keep quiet. I just… strongly insinuated that it would be for the best.”

“So you ‘strongly insinuated’ Jimmy, your superior, to get off my back? How did that work out?” grinned Qrow

“Well he seemed to be understanding of the situation. Then again, he and Miss Schnee, or my team for that matter, haven’t arrived yet so you might want to brace yourself for that.”

Qrow didn’t answer as he lowered his head to hide his smile and his growing blush. He wasn’t used to someone being able to read him so well, he wasn’t used to someone doing this sort of things for him. The fact that Clover actually took his time to talk to everyone just to make sure Qrow wouldn’t feel embarrassed was the sweetest thing the man had done so far, and he had done plenty.  
Truthfully, he still didn’t completely understand how he ended up so…lucky. Clover was everything he needed and everything he never thought he’d have. When he shared that thought with his boyfriend a few nights ago, Clover only smiled and told him that their meeting must have been his good luck Semblance offering him its best gift yet. Qrow smiled at the memory, his partner was way too cheesy for his own good. Then again, with the way Qrow constantly had to stop himself from constantly touching his boyfriend, maybe he was becoming cheesy as well. Though he wouldn’t have it any other way. He had been sleeping so long in a forty-year dark night and now he was finally seeing daylight in the form of Clover’s smile. He knew his nieces thought that he was about damn time and Qrow did feel like an idiot for taking so long to understand that behind the flirting, Clover was really interested in him. But to his defence, it only took him a little more than a month to finally get with his crush. Yang and Blake took years and while Qrow understood that the girls had been through a lot and just wanted to make sure there was no pressure, it did become almost ridiculous towards the end. Qrow felt a burst of love at the thought of his older niece finding such a beautiful love. No matter how many people still called them “kids”, they had lost the privilege to act like kids years ago. Granted they still had their moments of goofiness and innocence but Qrow just wished they had the chance to be proper teenagers.

“QROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOW” a loud voice suddenly yelled.

Before the man could even raise his head, a flash of orange appeared before him. He let out a big sigh without any real annoyance in it and answered,

“Yes, Nora?”

“Youuuu are going to make us CREPES”

Blinking, he looked at the young Huntress in front of him and waited for the moment she’d laugh. But she didn’t and kept looking at him with stars in her eyes and a finger pointing to his face. 

“Wanna say that again, kid?”

“Well you see, Ren is usually our cook but his wrist is still bandaged after the AWESOME FIGHT THAT WE WON and now we really want crêpes for dessert and Yang spilled the beans about you being A SUPER BAKER so now you get to make us all crêpes because we have all the ingredients ready and there’s a huuuuuge kitchen in the room next to this one and you can even take Clover so it’ll be even faster and we can get our delicious crêpes super fast!!!”

“…”

“Please?”

Once again, Qrow let out a sigh and gave the kid a little smile. “Sure”, he said. He was nowhere near a “super baker” but he was pretty decent. After Summer’s death, he had practiced her cookies recipe as a way to try and cheer up the little girls who had just lost their mum, even for a short time. Besides, any idiot with two functioning hands could make something as basic as crêpes.

“Fine, come on” he said, standing up and pulling on Clover’s hand so he would follow him. “We’re making desserts”

🍀🍀🍀🍀

“So…you know what to do with this?”

“In front of you are a bowl, eggs, flour and various other baking ingredients, how do you not know what to do with this?”

After weeks of working alongside the Ace Operative leader, Qrow found that there wasn’t much the man couldn’t do. But everyone had a weakness and Clover’s weakness was apparently baking.

“Well”, said the man. “How about you do this and I just watch you?”

“I knew it” snickered Qrow. “You ARE nothing but a pretty face”

“It must indeed be very pretty considering the amount of time you’ve spent looking at me since the first time we met.”

Qrow chuckled. He loved that part of their relationship. The soft banter between them seemed to never die, much like the flirting. It’s been a long time since Qrow had someone to laugh with. After years of being surrounded by James, Schnee and Ozpin, it was a wonder he didn’t end up as boring as them. The last person he had really felt a connection to would be Taiyang, the girls’ father. But he and Tai haven’t really been talking these past years. They didn’t fight or argued, they just…fell out. Qrow knew the man was ok from asking the girls and sometimes flying over his house in Patch to make sure nothing happened, but he didn’t actually talk to the man in quite a long time. Not since he quit teaching at Signal to go on spying missions for Ozpin. He traded a brother for a man who lied to him for years. Shaking his head to try and get rid of these unpleasant thoughts, he pulled out his scroll and quickly found a decent recipe for crêpes since his dumbass of a boyfriend was clearly overwhelmed. 

“Here, it doesn’t really get easier than this, Lucky Charm. Melt the butter and then measure the sugar and oil, I’ll get the flour and eggs.” 

“Sure thing, handsome” winked Clover, enjoying the slight blush on Qrow’s cheeks. He had gotten better at not deflecting a compliment but accepting them was still a struggle. Unfortunately for him, Clover had made his personal mission to give him as many genuine compliments as he could in a day. _“He probably isn’t used to praise. No wonder the simplest flirting makes him blush”_ thought Clover as he weighted the sugar.

Meanwhile, Qrow’s attempt at thinking happy thoughts was failing. Breaking the eggs in the bowl, he couldn’t help but thinking about what he had lost to alcohol. He sighed. This was the reason he got so addicted to drinking, it stopped his mind from overthinking and usually made him forget most of his issues. But now his brain wouldn’t stop going back to Team STRQ, the first group of people that made Qrow feel like he belonged. His Semblance was still a worry in the back of his mind, but Raven was used to it and never complained, Taiyang strongly believed a positive attitude alone could counter it and Summer just couldn’t have cared less. And when Team STRQ disbanded and Raven decided to leave, Taiyang, Summer and Qrow refused to drift apart and kept growing as their own little family. Now Summer was dead, Taiyang was alone on another continent and Qrow was a failure trying to protect his friend’s daughters while battling with his own demons. How he missed his team’s glory days.

“Want to tell me what’s bothering you or should I guess?

“I don’t know what you mean.” Quickly answered Qrow 

“Oh cut the bullshit.” said Clover, stopping his baking duty to look at his boyfriend with an slightly annoyed look on his face. “I thought we were past that. Something is bothering you, tell me what it is. Simple.”

Qrow sighed and put down the whisk. He had forgotten who easily Clover seemed to read it and how saying “no” to him had become impossible. Those damn eyes.

“I was just thinking of a friend, that’s all.” 

It was Clover’s turn to sigh as he asked Qrow to give him a bit more detail because clearly, he had chosen to be difficult.

“It’s the girl’s father, Taiyang. We were on the same team, Team STRQ. We were very close and then we weren’t. Mostly my fault.” shrugged Qrow, trying to go back to his baking. But Clover put a gentle hand on his.

“I clearly don’t know everything about the situation, but you should call him.” said Clover.

Qrow’s eyes widened as he tried to proceed the advice that he had just been given.

“I’m serious,” continued Clover, seeing Qrow’s face. “You’ve told me how you want to be a better person and how you want to correct your wrongs, and, in this case, communication is the best way to do it.”

Qrow pressed his lips in a tight line. Calling Taiyang sounded…terrifying. But Clover made a point, he couldn’t hide anymore. His actions always had consequences but now, he was to face them without alcohol in the mix, which definitely made things harder. 

“Will you huh… Will you stay when I call him?” asked Qrow shyly, still not used to relying on others for help.

Clover took Qrow’s hand in his and squeezed.

“Of course.”

Breathing deeply, Qrow took his scroll and clicked on Taiyang’s picture.

With every beeping of his scroll, Qrow’s urge to hang up was growing stronger. What if Taiyang really wanted him out of his life? He didn’t want to think about it too much, but he knew it was a possibility. Taiyang had, once upon a time, been his brother in everything but blood, and Qrow had messed that up. He knew losing the last member of Team STRQ would kill him. As the scroll kept beeping, Qrow felt his hand starting to shake and tried to calm himself. Without a word, Clover came behind him and put his arms around his waist, resulting in Qrow instantly relaxing in the touch. Gosh, he was really addicted to this man’s warmth. Clover’s arms felt like home, something Qrow hadn’t had in years and he-

“Qrow?! Is everything alright?! Are the girls okay?!” resonated a voice from his scroll.

Qrow kept quiet for a few seconds, unable to open his mouth until Clover detached himself from his back to elbow him in the rib. “Answer”, he mouthed.

Right. Taiyang. Apologizing.

“I…hum…yeah sorry Tai, I-”

“Qrow, are you drunk?” cut Taiyang in a voice that did nothing to hide his exasperation.

“No, no!” quickly explained Qrow as he felt his anxiety rise even more. “Listen. Everything is fine, the girls are okay and safe and I’m not drunk. I…haven’t been in a while.”

Biting his lower lip, Qrow listened to what sounded like Taiyang sitting down. 

“Really? Did something happen?”

Qrow took a deep breath and reached for Clover who instantly took his hand and started rubbing circles on the back of it. And then he told Taiyang everything. How he had followed Ruby and Team JNR, how Tyrian had poisoned him, meeting Oscar, finding Ozpin (he carefully kept Salem’s existence a secret. That would have to wait for another call), experiencing the worst betrayal of his life, getting worst and worst with every passing day until he was sure he would never see the light again and finally, how he almost lost the kids. But he also told him about arriving in Atlas, reconnecting with Ironwood, meeting Clover and the Ace Ops (he didn’t mention their relationship yet), being sober, refusing drinks people offered him, seeing the kids be warm and fed and as happy as they could be considering the situation. Although he left out the part where Yang started dating Blake, it wasn’t his story to tell.

“Taiyang, I’m really sorry. I’m Yang’s uncle and you and Summer trusted me to be Ruby’s as well, but I failed her and you. I’m sorry.”

The silence was making him sick. Sometimes he really missed being drunk all the time, his brain didn’t have the time to care. Now it did and Qrow was still adjusting to feeling everything at full force, like worry and guilt. Finally, Taiyang spoke again.

“When was the last time you drank?” he asked in a very neutral voice which did nothing to help Qrow’s worries.

“Several weeks ago now. I threw away my flask and there was alcohol at the Schnee’s mansion, but I refused and didn’t have any.”

“Qrow” started Taiyang, and the shapeshifter flinched. He knew he didn’t deserve forgiveness for his recklessness around Tai’s daughters. But he wasn’t sure how much of a rejection he could take. Beside him, Clover took a deep breath.

“I’m proud of you.”

That was unexpected.

“…What?”

“Don’t get me wrong, I’m extremely mad at you for putting the girls in danger and I’ll kick your ass for it when you come back home.” Qrow’s eyes widened at the last word and he felt Clover squeeze his hand. “But it’s good that you’re sober. After…after Summer’s death, I thought you’d never come back, but you’re doing it! That’s great, that’s amazing. This is why we choose you to be Ruby’s uncle. You’ve been through some shit, but you’re getting better. We’ll have a non-alcoholic drink to that when you all come back to Patch.”

“Yeah,” chuckled Qrow. “That might take a while.”

“I’ll wait. You’re family, after all.”

That sentence felt like music in Qrow’s ears. Taiyang and Qrow’s families were connected by Yang’s existence no matter what, but Qrow knew better than anyone that blood didn’t mean anything. So to hear that he still belonged with the only family he had left, that felt good. That felt better than any drinks Qrow’s ever tried. He turned his head to look at his partner and saw Clover looking at him with the softest smile Qrow has ever seen directed at him. It was almost too much.

“But enough of the sappy stuff, how have you been?” he asked

“Good! It’s a little lonely sometimes but Port and Oobleck have been visiting, Zwei keeps me busy and my sunflowers are doing great! You’ll have a real feast when you come back.” laughed Taiyang.

“Oh shut up.” Qrow replied without any bite. A long time ago, Taiyang had started growing sunflowers and feeding the seeds to Qrow’s corvid form. It was meant as a joke but as it turned out, Qrow had loved it (although he absolutely refused to admit it. Still, whenever he came by, Taiyang always had a bowl of sunflower seeds for him.)

“What about you, brother? How’s that love life going since you’ve apparently stopped hooking up with waitresses?”

Qrow’s entire body stiffened as Clover let go of his hand to hide his mouth. The little shit was laughing, so Qrow elbowed him in the rib, for good measure. But of course, Taiyang had picked up on the short silence.

“OH!” he yelled, shaking Qrow’s scroll from the volume of his voice. “Tell me everything! How did it happen? When can I meet them? Do they know about the time you wore a sk-?” 

Taiyang’s voice was cut abruptly when Qrow hung up in panic. Beside him, Clover was not bothering to hide his laugh anymore.

“Stop laughing, you stupid horseshoe.”

“Sorry, it was just too good.” Laughed Clover

Qrow clicked his tongue in fake annoyance and tried to hide the smile on his face by looking down, letting the conversation repeat in his brain. Taiyang and him were okay. He didn’t lose anyone else. Feeling a gentle hand pushing back his fringe, he raised his head and saw Clover wearing a smile that matched him. Slowly, he kissed his lips just for a second and whispered, _“I’m so proud of you.”_. Qrow didn’t answer but took a moment to bask in the feeling of warmth he was feeling.

“Come on” he said, detaching himself from Clover. “We still need to make dessert and you don’t want to make Nora wait.”

As we watched his boyfriend put his ingredients in a bowl, humming an Atlas song Qrow didn’t know, he truly felt like things were going to be okay.

**Author's Note:**

> Do some parts feel rushed ? Well they are.  
> I started writing this two weeks ago and it was about 97% done before today's chapter. After seeing chapter 12, thinking about this fic made me sick and I wanted to finish it. I was very close to deleting everything but I already had 2900 words so...  
> I was originally going to add scenes of Clover and Qrow actually making the crêpes and eventually returning in the room with the others, but I just can't. This chapter was very upsetting to me, I hope it won't damage my motivation to write as Fairgame was the ship that made me go back to writing.  
> I hope you enjoyed me doing what RT failed to do, celebrating Qrow's development and growth. He deserves to be happy.  
> Thanks for reading!


End file.
